Counting Sheep
by schubskie
Summary: A strange substance makes Red Arrow, Robin, and Kid Flash experience some strange symptoms. Rated T drinking, semi-streaking, and overall weird behavior xD NOT M. Finished 4/30/11.
1. Chapter 1

**Wrote this nearly a year ago- forgot how funny I thought it was xD cheesy ending but pfft :P**

***I'm currently working on the sequel; this part is COMPLETE! :D  
**

* * *

"Bye, Wally!" Dick turned, giving a passing wave to his best friend at the bus stop.

"Later dude," Wally smirked back before setting off at a jog in the opposite direction.

Today had been like any other day at school for Dick. He had aced several quizzes in biology, geometry, and physics. Some kids had picked on him for being a mathlete, but that wasn't unusual…and he had taken the bus home with Wally.

He wrinkled his nose, remembering the kid who had sneezed on him from the behind in the bus. That was gross.

But other than that, just your average day.

He walked back to his place and Alfred opened the door before he could even open it himself. "Here you are, sir."

Dick smiled, "Thanks Al."

And the rest of his day presumed.

* * *

That night however, Dick lay in his bed awake. He was listening to some Rihanna song on his iPod…what was it?

"It's a thief in the night to come and grab you/It can creep up inside you and consume you…"

Oh right. _Disturbia._

Dick shut it off then and turned over to go to sleep. His clock read 10:30 pm as he nestled down into his sheets.

Twenty minutes later Dick was still awake. Then thirty-five. Soon fifty-six. It was hard to ignore the clock for Dick on a school night. Bruce hadn't invited him to go out on patrol since it was.

An hour passed. Then two. Dick tossed and stuck his foot out. He curled up. He ran his fingers through his hair. He put his head at the foot of his bed…but nothing seemed to be working.

"Euugh," Dick sighed, checking his phone for the time yet again. It read 2:45 am. He wondered if Wally was awake.

* * *

Wally was sleeping in the dead of night at his parents' house. His bed sheets were twisted and mangled around him, and he lay sprawled out snoring with his mouth open; even drooling some.

His cell phone on his nightstand rung, and he fell out of bed. He reached up a tired hand and brought it down with him. "Hello?"

"Wally! Are you awake?" Dick's anxious voice came back over the phone.

"Well I was," Wally half-mumbled; half-slurred. He sleepily sat up, "What's going on?"

"I can't sleep," Dick confessed, "And I have an English test tomorrow! How am I going to take it?"

"Whoa, slow down," Wally yawned into the phone, "Just try to shut your eyes and relax."

"But I've _been _doing that for over four hours!" Dick explained, "It's not working. I don't know what's happening."

A pause, "Rob, you're my best friend and I want to help you, but I'm tired. You're all the way over there, and I'm over here. Maybe Bruce can help you or Al…"

Dick thought about this. "Maybe you're right-"

"I _am _right," Wally yawned again. "Now go get some sleep."

He heard the decisive click on the other end of the phone, signaling Wally's disconnection.

Wally _did_ sound tired. Dick didn't want to keep him up anymore on a school night, either. It wasn't fair.

So he got up from his seat on his bed and left to go find Bruce.

* * *

The following morning Dick walked into the kitchen. "Good morning Master Dick," Alfred turned from a pan full of eggs to greet him.

"Morning Al," Dick replied back, a little less enthusiastically. He hadn't gotten sleep AT ALL last night, but of course he was never going to admit it because of a few carefully noted reasons.

After he had gotten off the phone from Wally, he suddenly realized what his sleeplessness meant-increased worry from friends and family, more stress from schoolwork, and of course no patrol with Batman. He decided to put off telling either Alfred or Bruce about his torturous night, since he knew last night could have just been a fluke. Tonight, he'd sleep for sure.

It turned out Bruce had already left for work though, so Dick didn't have to worry about running into him. And after breakfast, he went to school.

Purchasing a soda early on in the day from the cafeteria, he was able to keep himself awake, even for the English test he was worrying about last night.

Though ironically, he was feeling even more energetic all day than he had the previous. He remembered something Bruce told him once about the body not reacting to lack of sleep until the second night-then the person would crash. Dick hoped that he was right.

But later on in the bus on the way home, Wally looked at Dick funny. "Dude, something's not right."

Dick looked at him, "What do you mean 'something's not right'?" Dick was used to Wally making these kinds of accusations, which he almost never immediately backed up.

Wally shifted his backpack that was between his legs as he changed positions to face Dick. "You're just…tired looking," he said, after a long pause. "Did you get enough sleep last night?" He frowned, seeming to remember the telephone call.

Dick hesitated, considering lying to his best friend. He decided against it, "No, I never fell asleep. I just stayed up and watched the sunrise."

"Bummer," Wally was now eating the remnants of a sandwich which he had retrieved from his backpack.

Dick's nose twitched when he smelled the pepper on it. Without warning, he sneezed.

"Dude!" Wally cried instantly, looking at his sandwich and hand in disgust. "Gross."

"Sorry Wally, sorry!" Dick apologized profusely, "I'm sure I have something in here…" he quickly unzipped a pouch on the side of his bag and produced a few napkins. Wally took them and wiped off everything.

"Sorry," Dick apologized once more, watching Wally and his sandwich.

"That's alright dude," Wally said, looking at his wiped off sandwich, then back at Dick. "You're not sick, are you?"

Dick knew Wally was hungry-he was every day after school. He could see it in his hopeful green eyes. "Yeah, I'm not sick. Must've been the pepper on that thing," he smirked slightly.

Wally's expression turned into a grin. "Great. Just the way I like it," he said, before taking a big mouthful of his snack.


	2. Chapter 2

Dick had a rather quiet evening. There was no suspicious activity out on patrol, which was weird since that's how it had been the two previous Fridays as well. He came back and went immediately to his room to finish up on some extra credit assignments before the weekend.

Moments later, there were three steady knocks.

Dick looked up, "Come in."

Bruce entered. He wore his usual work suit and tie.

"Finished your schoolwork?"

Dick swiveled around in his desk chair and nodded, frowning slightly.

"Yeah just some extra credit...why?"

Dick _always_ finished his homework; Bruce knew that.

Bruce's face remained relatively the same as his analytical gaze swept the room.

He paused, "Just checking."

Dick watched as his adoptive father turned to leave his room. At the doorway he paused again.

"I know I'm not one to talk, but…" he looked back at Dick. "Try not to have another late night."

"How did you-"Dick caught himself.

The cameras; they weren't in his room, but he should've remembered quite a few were installed outside on the premises.

One of those probably caught his movement in the window. They were motion detectors, so they caught any and all motion within range.

"Night," Bruce remarked as he left the room.

"Goodnight," Dick replied, long after he was gone.

* * *

It was 10:30 later that night and Dick lingered at his desk.

He never went to bed _this_ early on weekends, but Bruce didn't want him to have another "late night". But he felt wide awake and that's why he hesitated.

Just then, his phone buzzed and he checked caller ID. It was Wally.

"Hello?" He picked up.

"Hey Rob, you tired yet?" His friend's energetic voice came over.

"No, but I was thinking about it," Dick said. He suddenly felt a little rebellious. "Want to play Black Ops instead?"

"Naw, that game's for tools," Wally shot it down. "But I can't go to sleep either." He paused.

"Let's sneak out."

"What?" Dick said.

"Yeah, come on…just around the park a few times, _just _enough to stretch our legs; we'll be back here before twelve," Wally spoke fast.

Dick could tell he was excited about this plan. And for some strange reason, so was he.

"Alright. I'll try to bypass the cameras in the yard-"

"Great, meet me there in ten." Wally cut him off. He clicked the phone shut.

Dick snapped his shut too and slipped it into his pocket.

A couple hours in the park was all he needed to get a good night's sleep. He wasn't feeling tired at all and from the sound of it, neither was Wally.

Actually, the more Dick thought about it, the more he felt he _needed _to do this. He didn't know why. But he didn't question it.

Grabbing his coat off the back of his chair, he came up with an ingenious plan to bypass the cameras.

* * *

Wally had been waiting for close to ten minutes in the park.

It was dark, except for the street lamps which seemingly captured the moon's explosive light in each bulb. The sky was velvety blue, and the park teemed with the sounds of crickets swirling and blending with the crisp cool feeling in the air.

And although it was night, Wally could see each blade of grass, hear every footstep, and see every star pinpricked in the sky.

It was _invigorating _feeling this way. Like some kind of switch had finally stimulated his senses to maximum capacity.

He liked it.

Running around the track, he paused just to take it all in. That's when he heard Richard Grayson approach.

"Hey!" He called out, waving.

Dick looked apprehensive. But seeing his friend and feeling the night air seemed to change that almost immediately.

"This is amazing," Dick breathed, looking all around him.

"I know, right? I've been here_ millions_ of times and it's never been _this _incredible." Wally gazed about in wonder.

Something in Dick changed back again. He fixed his friend with a frown. "Wait, why is it like this? I mean, it's perfect but…" he trailed off.

Something wasn't right. He had lived here all his life and never had he seen or even felt a night like this before.

Wally shrugged. "Who cares? Hey, we should do something." He fixed his friend with a mischievous glance, his green eyes catching the moonlight.

"What?" Dick frowned even further. But he felt that same excitement rising up in his chest again.

"Let's go streaking."

"What?" This time Dick snapped out of it. "Streaking? Are you serious?"

"Hell yeah! It'll be fun, come on." Wally elbowed him.

"Wally, we'll get caught! What about just stretching our legs-"

"We've already done that. Come on; let's go."

As if to prove to his best friend he was really going to follow through with this plan, he took off his shirt.

He quickly moved onto his pants.

"Hey!" Dick shielded his eyes, "Keep your underpants on at least!"

Wally looked up and rolled his eyes. "Fine."

Dick watched him for a second, but it was as if that excitement he felt about sneaking out was rising again. And this time, he couldn't control it.

"Okay! Okay!" He whispered, "I'll do it."

Against all will he took off his coat and his shirt, feeling the cool breeze of the night hit his body. It _did_ feel awesome. And was it just him, or was this the best idea ever?

Grinning and stripped down to their underwear, the two boys agreed to start at the gate of the park, and run all the way around and back again.

"Ready?" Wally called.

"Go!" Dick shouted.

After that, they took off.


	3. Chapter 3

The whole thing lasted about 5 seconds for Wally. He ran so fast he had Dick beaten by a good 3 minutes. So he just went around again. _And again._

Dick laughed as his friend passed him so many times. He couldn't believe this. But it was _actually _happening.

He was streaking through Gotham's city park. And it felt so good!

He stopped his third time around and flopped under a tree. After two more times, Wally did the same.

Panting, the redhead laughed. "Dude, we're so _gay_!"

"I know, but it was worth it!" Dick grinned, panting as well. He turned toward him. "Hey, let's get our clothes back on; I have a better idea."

* * *

"Is that the place?" Wally asked, casting a quick glance to his best friend.

Dick nodded, peeking over the top of the trashcan, "This is it."

They were across the street from a noisy bar. The drunkards inside were boisterous and arrogant, though not violent. The two boys watched their silhouettes from their hiding place in the alley.

"Alright." Wally turned to Dick. "Let's do this."

"Do what?" A voice suddenly came from behind them.

Startled, the two spun around to find themselves face-to-face with Red Arrow.

"Roy!" Dick shouted, before covering over his mouth, realizing his mistake.

"You can help us!" Wally cried happily.

Red Arrow looked down at them strangely. "_What_?"

Dick and Wally looked at each other.

"We want booze," Dick said quickly looking back at him.

Red Arrow looked like he was going to object. But something stopped him. Dick saw in his eyes the excitement; he knew it was there too.

"Why don't you just get it yourself?" He said instead.

"Because we're too young," Wally said disappointedly. "And I can't run in there like this," he pointed down to his clothing.

Dick grinned, "But since you're Red Arrow…"

"What? No, no…" Red seemed to be fighting whatever it was now. "I'm not getting alcohol for under aged kids. Bats and Flash would have my head!"

"Oh come on…" Wally said. "We have the money. All you'd have to do is buy it. Heck, you can have some too if you want."

Red looked like he was going to say something again, but he paused. "Wait, what?"

"You can have some too," Dick shrugged, agreeing. "We'll split it evenly right?" He looked at Wally.

Wally nodded. "Just a six-pack. Nothing big." He grinned.

Red broke a smile this time, "Give me the cash."

Dick reached into his pocket, as did Wally. They produced quarters and five dollar bills.

Red Arrow took it with one hand. He walked calmly and coolly across the street, and into the bar.

* * *

Minutes later, all three burst into hysterics in the park.

"We did it! We pulled it off!" Dick laughed. He didn't know why this was so funny.

"Hey Arrow, toss me another one," Wally laughed.

Red reached around with a smirk and tossed him another beer from the 12-pack,

"Here you go buddy."

Wally caught it and hit the cap off with the trunk of the tree he was leaning on. The beer bubbled over and fizzed down his hand and onto the ground. But he didn't seem to care.

Dick burped and felt the alcohol really hit him. He grinned foolishly.

"Nice one," Red Arrow raised his bottle to him. "But listen to this."

He belched loudly.

"Pshht, I want to see that one coming out of Bruce's mouth." Wally commented from his leaned back position.

"Does Bruce even drink?" Red Arrow looked suddenly at Dick.

"Sure he does…" Dick looked around with a mischievous glance. "Once he kills for finding out about this!"

All three laughed loudly.

"Oh Jeese that was good, that was good…" Wally wiped a tear away from his eye.

"But we haven't done anything _that _bad yet…" Red paused. "Wait, have we?"

Dick looked at Wally. "We have. We went streaking."

Red Arrow looked shocked. "No shit!" He leaned forward.

"Yes. Yes shit," Wally said lackadaisically. He held up his bottle in a swaying manner. "But we had underwear."

"Pfft, that's not streaking," Red rolled his eyes.

"Hey! Hey, we chose it that way! We could…we could do it the other way too!" Dick protested hazily. He sat up though.

"Sure…" Red downed some more beer.

"We could!" Dick protested. "Wally was practically doing just that!"

"I was…I was like…" Wally burped as he summoned up the effort for a funny imitation. "How do my leftovers taste, bitch?"

All three laughed again loudly.

And the night bore on.

* * *

A bird was screeching into Grayson's ear the next morning.

"God Alfred, is the window open again?" He mumbled grumpily. Shivering, He turned over and gripped a fistful of grass before settling in again.

He opened his eyes wide.

Wait,_ grass? _

He bolted upright. The sun was shining right into his eyes but after a brief moment he realized where he was; the park.

He looked down at himself and held back a cry of surprise. "Where's my shirt?"

A groan came as his reply and the young raven-haired boy looked up to find Wally lying a few feet away. He was snoring up a storm and surrounded by at least four empty beer bottles.

An early morning jogger passed by giving both young men a funny look.

"Wally! Wally!"Dick hissed.

The redhead started awake. "What-Huh? " He slurred.

"We passed out last night. Get up; we have to get back before…"

"Before what?"

Dick cringed. He slowly turned around to find Bruce standing over him; next to him stood Barry .

"Oh crud," Dick heard Wally mutter behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

"Give us one good reason why we shouldn't drop you two from the job!" Barry exclaimed.

Wally and Dick both flinched, even though they were in the backseats of the car.

Wally cleared his throat, "We didn't know what we were doing," he replied weakly.

"Because you were getting drunk out of your minds! " Barry sighed and put a hand to his face. "Bruce and I have better things to do than to chase you two goofballs around in the park at all hours of the night."

Wally knew Barry got grumpy sometimes if he didn't get any sleep; it was just his high metabolism. But he also wished he didn't yell quite so loudly right now. His head was pounding. And the motion of the car was making him feel sick.

Dick burped and almost vomited. "We're sorry Mr. Allen, we really don't know what came over us."

What _had_ they done? Dick tried hard to remember it, but at the very most it seemed like a dream. He suddenly remembered the semi-streaking and his face grew bright red.

"I told you to stay put Dick," Bruce said quietly. He looked back through the rearview mirror . "What happened to your shirt."

Dick looked down at his feet. "I don't know…we went streaking earlier…" He widened his eyes and the car fell silent.

"You what?" Bruce said.

"Wally did you-"Barry began.

"I don't know! Just quit yelling you're making my head hurt," Wally held his head between his knees.

"No more patrols Dick." Bruce said.

"But-"he protested.

Dick saw his glare in the rearview mirror and fell silent.

He squeezed his eyes shut.

_Why did they do this? _

* * *

Dick spent the rest of the day in his room. He was grounded until further notice.

But he still couldn't understand what was going on. Wally had come up with such an outrageous plan, and what was even more _outrageous _about it, was his part_ in_ it.

And where was Roy in all of this? They hadn't ratted him out, but he should be here to take some responsibility.

Dick sighed, flopping down on his bed. In the middle of all this, he was beginning to feel tired.

_What was going on?_

* * *

Meanwhile, miles away in Central City, Wally was wondering the exact same thing.

"And don't come out until we decide what your punishment will be," Rudy West finished his reprimanding before leaving the room.

Wally fell back on his bed putting a pillow over his head, "Ughh."

He couldn't go on any missions with Uncle Barry. He and Dick would never be able to hang out again. Why had they done it?

He turned over, feeling his headache grow worse. And he was feeling tired.

He closed his eyes. But no sleep came.

Sighing, he reached into his pocket to check the time before remembering his parents had taken away his phone.

This weekend was going to suck.

* * *

That night dinner passed with uncharacteristic stillness in the West residence. Wally ate with his head down. Whenever he made eye contact with either parent, they returned his gaze with a stern look.

Suddenly, Wally put his fork down. His feet were moving. He glanced under the table and saw they were practically jogging in place.

_By themselves._

Without warning he jumped up as his running increased.

"Wally!" Mary scolded.

"It's not me, I swear!" Wally protested.

Still running, he began to circle around the room. He went faster and faster. Papers flew off the shelves and a bookcase fell over as he raced by.

"This is no time for games young man-"Rudy stood up.

"I don't know what's happening, I can't stop!" Wally's voice was edged with panic. Before he could say more his speed increased to almost maximum capacity and he sped out of the room and out the front door.

The night was less invigorating this time; it was terrifying. Wally flew through the neighborhood with no control over his feet. He couldn't cry out for help or scream or else his secret identity would be ruined.

With no phone or way of calling for help, Wally was stuck running wherever his feet decided to go. They made loop-de-loops around the mayor's fountain and figure eights around in the small Central City Park.

He wondered how long he could last like this.

* * *

Meanwhile, a phone call was afoot at the West residence.

"What's going on?" Barry asked, his voice rushed.

"It's Wally; he just stood up and ran out of the house!" Mary cried into the phone.

"Where is he?"

"We don't know; he left five minutes ago. Rudy's out looking-"

She heard the phone drop to the floor. "Hello? Hello?" she called.

* * *

Wally was well into Gotham now and his feet were flying.

Cars honked as his feet led him into traffic and he closed his eyes as they steered him between cars. He ran back onto the sidewalk.

Suddenly, a red blur raced ahead of him and Flash blocked his path.

"Look out!" Wally said as he crashed right into the super.

But Flash was ready and caught the young man.

"Wally, what's going on?" He said.

"I can't stop my feet; they're moving by themselves!" Wally looked up at him as they kept running in place.

The sidewalk around him started sparking.

Flash frowned, but suddenly realized Wally was telling the truth. He could see fear in his nephew's eyes.

"Hold on," he said, lifting him gently by the shoulders.

The sparks ceased but his feet still sped as he dangled in the air.

Wally panted with the effort of running this hard for this long. A crowd around the two started to form.

Flash looked around with wider eyes.

Then he sped off into the night holding Wally.


	5. Chapter 5

"Batman, we have a problem." The Flash's voice sounded in the Bat cave.

Alfred had let the two in as soon as he realized the direness of the situation.

Batman looked up from his work to find Wally working up an unhealthy sweat from his moving feet which hit nothing but air.

"He can't stop moving his feet."

Batman watched the youth for a moment before standing and collecting a few things off one shelf. He shuffled papers, files and moved things around in drawers.

Flash looked worriedly at his young ward as Wally began breathing harder from the effort of running for so long.

He looked around and found a hook to hang Wally up on. He opened the compartment on his right forearm revealing an energy bar.

He opened it and began feeding it to Wally. "Here, eat this. Bruce will have you fixed up in no time." He reassured, though the ravenous bites his nephew took made Flash worry even more.

Batman, seemingly finding something, came back over to the two and pressed a syringe into the youth's shoulder.

"What will that do?" Flash asked, obviously concerned.

"It temporarily paralyzes," Batman paused, "Until we find a more_ permanent_ solution."

Flash looked at Wally as his feet slowly stopped. All movement from his head down ceased; only his eyes seemed to dart around with excess fear as his head dropped.

* * *

Flash carried Wally onto a table of the Bat cave when Dick entered.

He had heard Alfred answer the door and snuck down to see what was going on; he couldn't sleep anyway and Wally was his best friend.

"Wally!" He ran over, seeing the body of his friend, but not seeing that he was in fact still awake.

"It's okay, he's alright for now." Flash reassured as he stood next to the youth.

Wally wished he could look at his friend but he had to wait until Dick walked around the other side of the table.

"What happened?" Dick asked with surprise.

"He lost control of his feet. Batman had to temporarily paralyze him until we can figure out what's going on," Flash said with a small frown as he too, looked down upon the boy on the table.

"I already found out." Batman said from the computer chair.

Both turned to see him bringing up files on the screen.

"Unknown foreign pathogen in the blood. It attacked his central nervous system."

"Is that its primary purpose?" Dick asked, walking over with a deepening frown.

"Doesn't look like it; but it'll take more time to find out what exactly_ is_." Batman swiveled around in his chair. "You two should get some rest." He turned back around, "I'll keep working."

"And I want to help however I can," Flash said. "I have to make a call to Wally's parents anyway," he looked back.

Batman didn't reply, though it was perceived that he agreed.

* * *

Dick stayed up all that night. He stared up at the ceiling in nervous anticipation.

He was tired, but couldn't go to sleep. Was it because something was wrong with his friend? Or was it something _more_?

Dick couldn't figure it out. Never in his life had he felt so stumped.

He sighed, finally deciding to get up. He was grounded, though the situation might permit him to break the rules a little.

And so Dick crept back down to the Bat cave.

* * *

He found the cave almost exactly as he had left it.

Wally was still on the table and Batman was still at the computer.

But Flash had a hand on Batman's chair as he looked up at the screen with the Dark Knight.

"It doesn't make sense; how did that even _get _there?" Flash asked aloud, gesturing.

"It doesn't matter." Batman turned in his chair as soon as Dick's footsteps approached. He didn't seem surprised whatsoever that he was there. "We need you to tell us what happened; _exactly _what happened."

Dick was a little startled, but this wasn't too unusual for Bruce.

"Well I couldn't sleep again and Wally couldn't either so he suggested we go down to the park," he said. "When we got there, we…" he trailed off, his eyes suddenly widening.

He remembered something.

"The park," he muttered. "The park! It was…brighter. More alive," he tried to explain.

"How do you mean?" Flash asked with a hand on his hip.

"I don't know. It just felt _different_."

He remembered something else.

"And I didn't want to go out anyway. But it was like something-"

"Took possession of you," Batman finished. He sounded grave.

"Yeah," Dick walked over. "What does that mean?" He asked.

Batman turned back to the controls, diving directly to the core of the matter. "The infection's primary function will be to pry away sleep from the host. Side effects include corrupt behavior and…"

"Losing control of your arms or legs," Flash's voice faltered as he looked up at the screen.

"What's going to happen to us?" Dick asked, though a part of the young detective already knew.

Batman looked up at the screen, "Extermination of the host."

* * *

"Roy!" Wally suddenly blurted.

The three looked back to find the youth had regained some possession of his movements. He was propped up on his elbow and looking straight at them. "We have to find him."

"That's right; he was part of this too!" Dick exclaimed, looking at the two supers. "He must have the pathogen!"

Flash raised an eyebrow while Batman just looked at him.

"We had to get the beer somehow," Dick explained.

Flash stood up, "I'll contact Green Arrow-"

"I don't think he'd want Mr. Queen looking for him," Dick said.

"Or you guys," Wally remarked to the supers.

"What are you suggesting," Batman narrowed his eyes.

"I'll go!" Wally volunteered, sitting up all the way. He stretched his arms and legs. He grinned mischievously, "I can find him in a flash."

"Oh no you don't; after what happened tonight you're staying right here," Flash said.

"Can I?" Dick turned to Batman.

Batman looked at him but after a moment he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine. But do it quickly."

Dick nodded, "Thanks Batman," before turning and jogging out to get his Robin on.

"Good luck!" Flash called after him, from beside a _very_ unhappy Wally.


	6. Chapter 6

"I was hoping that hadn't really happened," Red Arrow sighed, referring to the night before.

He had been retrieved by Robin from the outskirts of Gotham. Robin didn't question why he was there in the first place; his mind was already swimming with what Batman had told the group.

Now, all five men were in the bat cave. Robin knew Batman wasn't _too _happy with the number of people in his headquarters.

"But now we have a bigger problem on our hands," Robin said looking around at the group. "What are we going to do?"

"Well how much time do we have?" Wally asked shrugging. His personality was dimmed by the news, but not by much. "All three of us have the infection, right?"

"Batman?" Flash asked with a frown.

Batman turned from his seat at the computer. "I need DNA samples before any conclusions are made."

Robin knew he knew how long they had; but Batman wanted to have their DNA just to double check. Or maybe even out of denial.

_But how long could someone really last without sleep?_

"Alright," Red Arrow nodded, agreeing to the proposal.

* * *

It took ten minutes to take blood samples from all three young men. Wally made a face as his finger was pricked.

Flash brought the samples to Batman, who entered them into a slide into his computer.

The computer beeped as it analyzed the samples. Then it brought up a projected time for each young man on the screen.

Everyone in the room watched the in utter shock.

_Red Arrow: 4 weeks_

_Robin: 3.5 weeks_

_Kid Flash: 2 weeks _

Red Arrow, Robin, and Wally exchanged glances intermittingly.

"That…that can't be right," Wally said in disbelief.

Red Arrow looked down, shaking his head.

Robin just stared at the screen. "Isn't there a way to prolong it? Couldn't we try to simulate sleep?" He said aloud, scrambling for an alternate answer.

Batman knew these questions were directed at him; he just shook his head slowly in reply.

Flash bit his lip looking up at the screen. He muttered weakly, "_2 weeks_?"

He knew it was Wally's metabolism since all speedsters needed their sleep, but still…

Batman stood up. "I've produced a serum to counteract the side effects. Get dressed after it's distributed. You're all going to a hospital."

"Where are you going?" Robin asked.

Batman looked at him and Robin could tell he felt some remorse for yelling at him earlier. But he wordlessly got into his batmobile and drove away.

Flash turned to the young men. "I'll get you guys started with that. Red Arrow, do you want me to call G.A.?" He turned toward the young man.

Red hesitated, but then shook his head, "I'll call him."

"Right," Flash turned to retrieve the serum. But before he could, his gaze locked with Wally; he immediately looked away. Looking his nephew in the eye was impossible right now.

* * *

Alfred drove the young men to Gotham's best hospital.

All three had gotten dressed back into their civvies, except for Wally who never wore his Kid Flash costume in the first place. Flash had gone out to help Batman and bring the dark news to the West residence.

The car ride was quiet.

"I should probably call Ollie…" Roy muttered at length, fishing his cell phone out of his pocket.

Dick and Wally looked at him from the backseats, though they said nothing and each continued looking out his own window in quiet reflection.

"Hey Ollie it's me," Roy said as he heard the other line pick up.

"Roy?" Oliver Queen's voice came back. "Is everything alright?" His voice was clear enough for everyone in the car to hear.

Roy visibly winced, knowing the surprise in his voice was because he never called Ollie anymore. It hurt knowing that now with the end seemingly so very near.

"Yeah, sort of…" Roy shifted positions in vain attempt of making the conversation more private. "But I…I have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"I'm…Dick and Wally…" Roy struggled to put the situation into words. "We came into contact with this pathogen. Probably manmade; and…Ollie, so far there's no way out of it."

"Roy, there's no way out of what? What do you mean?" He grew more serious.

"There's…it attacks our ability to sleep. Ollie, we're all going to die," he finally finished quietly.

There was a pause on the other end. Then he spoke,

"When?"

Roy sighed; closing his eyes. He felt like he was betraying Ollie; like he was ripping his heart out. But it had be done.

He opened his eyes and glanced back through the rearview mirror at Dick and Wally.

"Four weeks," he muttered.

Wally and Dick both looked away, everyone in the car knowing they had less time.

"Oh Roy," Ollie's voice was crestfallen and full of lament. "Have you tried talking to Bruce? Can he do anything? I know you don't think you need any help these days but-"

"He tried." Roy cut him off, "Now I guess he's looking for the culprit, but Ollie-" Roy trailed off, suddenly rendered unable to say what he wanted to say. He felt his throat tighten.

"Yes Roy?" Ollie asked.

"I gotta go. See you later," Roy snapped his phone shut.

Another long silence filled the fancy car, where Roy leaned over and held his head, running his fingers through his hair with one hand.

In the other, he held his phone tightly pressed to his lips.

Alfred looked over at Roy, and in the mirror at the other two younger boys. They were already looking a little tired.

He repositioned his hands on the steering wheel and gazed sadly out onto the road in front of him.

Getting a shared room in the hospital without a reason was easy with the Wayne family's connection. At first all three young men were going to have separate rooms, though Wally suggested that they should perhaps share.

Roy and Dick agreed perhaps a little too quickly to that.

"A doctor will see you shortly to record your vitals," a nurse informed the group with a polite smile.

Alfred nodded, "Thank you." He answered for the boys who remained silent in their beds.

The nurse nodded and left the room-blonde hair, clipboard, and all. She was actually fairly young and very pretty; though Wally seemed to hardly notice as he looked at Dick to his right and further down at Roy who was even more to his right.

Alfred turned to the boys. "Shall I stay?"

Dick looked up, "No. It's okay Al. We're good," he faked a smile.

Alfred swallowed. "Very well," he nodded though he was faking it too.

And he reluctantly left the room thinking:_ all three were contemplating their deaths at far too young of an age. _

…_And to think it was all because they couldn't count a few sheep. _


End file.
